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India has stepped up its coronavirus vaccination drive amid a deadly second wave of infections. The country on Sunday breached the 100,000 daily caseload mark for the first time since the pandemic began.
United States coronavirus cases have increased again after hitting a low point late last month, and some of the states driving the upward trend have also been hit hardest by variants.
With several vaccines approved and more people receiving them, our eyes now turn to vaccine acceptance. Vaccines give us the ability to prevent severe disease and reduce transmission. What questions do people have about the vaccines and the systems administering them?
Epidemiologists in India say that there is only one likely explanation for the decrease in new cases: The virus is finding it harder to spread because a significant proportion of the population, at least in cities, already has been infected. The decline is not related to a lack of opportunities for transmission.
Vaccine rollout in the United States has been undeniably slow. And while we wait, worrisome new coronavirus variants are emerging, heightening the urgency to control the pandemic. Some variants, including ones first identified in Brazil, South Africa and the United Kingdom, have mutations that help the coronavirus evade parts of the immune system, raising the specter that some people might face a second round of COVID-19.
The aim is to encourage writers and showrunners to address the subject matter in their characters and storylines — without hitting viewers over the head with the message.